Crusaders
by Laryna6
Summary: A collection of oneshots, drabbles & anything else DanteLady. Dedicated to the red knight and the white lady. Updated with five drabbles.
1. Sticking Together

Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry.

This is a gift-fic for LadyTigerFuyuko, who requested Dante/Lady. She wrote the 100th review of _Rapture _(counting the ones that were deleted when I reposted it as a single fic) and I like to award kiribans to reviewers, because I really do appreciate getting reviews.

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"What is this?" Lady asked, handing Dante a piece of jewelry.

He took it and grimaced. "It's got a spell on it to cause a miscarriage. Old-fashioned curse. Must have done it for practice."

"Can you take the spell off?" The bracelet was real gold. She could get something for it.

"Sorry, Lady. I can spot them but I can't do anything about them. I'm not a sorcerer. You'd have to melt it down."

"Okay." She tossed it into the laundry hamper that held the things they were going to have to do something special with. "This?" The next thing she took out of the cabinet was a black mirror.

Dante hissed and wouldn't touch it. "That thing's got a human soul imprisoned in it."

How many people had her father killed? They had barely started sorting through his things and Dante had already taken the wastebasket they filled with the things that needed to be destroyed out to the backyard where they were going to have a bonfire twice.

The heads and other body parts were going to be taken to the morgue so hopefully the families would at least know what had happened.

So many of the victims were girls her age.

"Black mirrors are used for seeing distant things, sometimes as oracles," Dante explained as she tossed the mirror in the wastebasket, wanting it out of her hands.

"How do you know all this?"

"My mother. She made us learn about the stuff we might run into."

Kalina Ann had taught her daughter how to cook and worked out with her. "What's this?"

He whistled. "Amulet of Karense. Keep that, it protects against burning."

She slipped into the pocket he'd made never run out of room.

She'd never thought she'd see her old house again. She'd never thought she'd work with a demon, yet here they were. Someone had to clean up her father's mess: they certainly couldn't leave this stuff here for the new owner to find. She was going to sell everything she could, to finance her career.

The next time the destroy bin got full she called it quits and went over to carry the bin. Dante was there before her. "I'll carry it." He made it look so easy.

She led the way out to the backyard where the wood was stacked. Dante had dumped all the previous loads on the wood. This load joined it. "Should I light her up, Lady?"

She nodded.

He took out a sword and touched it to the pile, which burst into flames. Flames that turned odd colors and made odd sounds as her father's works were burned.

Dante pulled up two chairs and she sat down, watching the fire. Dante sat right next to her. A little too close, but she didn't want to tell him to move away. She didn't want to hurt his feelings.

He was being so helpful, teaching her and giving her things. The part of her that couldn't get over her hatred of demons told her he was only doing it to get in her pants, that she should send him away before he raped her.

She knew that was unfair and it made her feel guilty that she was thinking things like that about him when he had passed up a job (when her father had destroyed his home and he desperately needed the money), to come and help her clean out her old house.

"I brought marshmallows," he offered.

"Eat something cooked on _that_?" She stared at him as he shook the bag at her, smiling.

"Why not? It won't hurt you. Come on, Lady. Live a little."

Marshmallows were so _childish._ But he had found long sticks and he roasted one for her. It was good, she thought as she licked her fingers. "Are you going to make s'mores?"

"I don't like graham crackers," he told her. "If you want, I could pick some up next time I go to the grocery store."

He'd been the one to go and buy all the wood and food. She wasn't going to eat anything from that house. "No, that's okay."

He seemed a little disappointed. But he cheered up as she ate one of the next batch of marshmallows.

They'd had cookouts in the backyard, before.

She reached over and took one of the sticks from Dante. He grinned. "That's better, Lady."

"Why do you care about things like this?" When there were demons out there.

He shrugged. "If you're miserable, then they've won. You don't want to _lose,_ do you Lady?"

Demons fed on pain, "You're right." She gripped the stick tighter.

Dante ate three marshmallows to each one of hers. "What?" he asked when he caught her looking at him.

"Is there… some reason why you're eating so much?" Men ate more, but…

"Yeah, my metabolism's crazy." He swallowed another marshmallow. "'S why I drink tomato juice instead of water, when I can."

"Oh." There was silence for a while, bar the flames and Dante eating.

It was strange. He seemed so human. He was kind, unselfish even, giving her blue orbs that he needed as well. But there were so many things about him, little things, that reminded her he was not human.

No, that was unfair, he was half human. He'd had a mother once.

Her eyes kept glancing at him.

Part of that was her hormones.

It was probably yet another demon thing. There were succubi and things that fed on lust, right? It wasn't deliberate, he wasn't trying to control her. He wouldn't do something like that.

But even though he had the face of an angel she shouldn't be this attracted to him. It had to be some power.

The thing was, when she hated him she could ignore it, let it fuel her hate even. Now that he was right here next to her, and he was so kind after she'd broken his heart, it was very hard not to reach out.

Under that grin there was some sadness in his eyes, there because of her. He didn't think he had a chance, and being around her made him suffer, but he was still helping her.

She hadn't thought it was possible for a demon to be that unselfish. She hadn't thought it was possible for a demon to love.

He'd fallen in love with her because she was brave and strong. He respected her. It certainly wasn't for her looks: with her mismatched eyes and scar she was no prize. But she was beautiful in his eyes.

But she had a mission, to eliminate every last demon, and she couldn't let anything stop her, not even love. But then, he wouldn't try to stop her fighting, would he? He'd laughed as they fought side-by-side. She thought he found her most beautiful then.

She'd never even had a real boyfriend, and now… it was probably just crushes. They'd been in the wrong place (no one should have been there) at the same time and it had been a very long and dark night. They'd both lost someone.

She wanted him to hold her and comfort her as much as she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to comfort him.

He seemed like a child now, watching his marshmallows, and she smiled at him. "Dante."

"Yeah, Lady?"

What should she say now? She wanted to tell him to go away, because even though things would be hard without him here it was hard with him here. She'd thought her heart had died with her mother. Now it was beating again and she didn't know what to do.

"Dante, um… How long are you going to stick around?"

"As long as you need me, Lady." He said it nonchalantly. "Why? You can't be tired of me so soon. I haven't even teased you!"

"No, I'm not tired of you. I was thinking, there's a lot I don't know. I probably would have sold that bracelet to a pawn shop and some woman would have bought it and never had children. Do you want to… Instead of me starting up my own shop, do you want to work together?"

"You mean it?"

"Yes." She looked at her stick.

"Thanks, Lady. It would have taken me a long time to save up again."

"Well, my father owes it to you. It's his money." Was his money. It still didn't feel real that he was dead, not completely. Her mother finally avenged.

"It's yours, Lady."

She shrugged. "We could work together."

"Partners?"

"You don't like the idea?"

"No, it's just been a while since I had a partner." His eyes were shadowed for a second. "Sure, Lady. Thanks."

"Thank you, Dante." And maybe, maybe when she was around him every day she'd be able to… either she'd get over this crush or she'd work up her courage to apologize for turning away from that kiss.

She regretted it so much. Had that been her only chance?

No.

"Dante, do you want one of my marshmallows?" She took the top one off the stick and held it out to him.

"Sure." He took it, and their fingers stuck together for an instant.


	2. Gunshots

_Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry. _

_If you read Centuries, you've read these before. I decided to make collections of my work in some pairings, and separate out those drabbles to go in those collections, to make them easier for people to find. _

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1. Frozen – Lady

Lady was sticking around! Just until she had someplace else to go. _He_ needed someplace else to go, he didn't want to crash at Enzo's forever, even if his old agent wouldn't evict an old friend with a pair of 45s.

But the real reason she was sticking around was because she was sneezing like hell. Out in the rain most of the night, she'd asked him what he'd expected before throwing a used tissue at him.

He'd bragged about not getting sick. She'd looked at him like he…

Suddenly this hadn't seemed like such a great thing after all.

2. Health – Lady

Chicken soup. He made her chicken soup. The Campbell's kid, out of a can, but still. Chicken soup.

She should have just left after the tower vanished.

She must have caught the cold here. This Enzo's place was a pigsty. Pizza boxes and beer bottles everywhere, posters of half-naked women on the walls. Dirty clothes serving as a carpet.

It was all Dante's fault.

And he had the gall to look at her sheepishly, look after her, and be immune to human things like colds. She wanted to shoot him. Just one more time, he'd survive. Bang!

Temperature 104 degrees.

3. Topping – For Gryffindorstef, AU of my ficverse, L/D

"I can't believe I'm," kiss, "doing this."

"Believe it, Lady." His hand was wandering around under her half-unbuttoned shirt.

"I should be clobbering you for what you did to my motorcycle, not, oooh, do that again." She shivered and pressed closer.

He smiled. "It's part of my evil plot. I'm distracting you so my skull remains intact. Aren't I doing a good job?"

"Bastard."

"Hey, my parents were married." He tried to push her back against the couch. She pushed back.

"You're putting on a condom, and I'm calling the shots tonight."

"Who says?"

"You owe me for the bike."

4. Spice – prompt 'mulled wine' from Vampy Sparda

"My mom made this." He'd found the wine at Love Planet's ruins.

Lady blinked. "Your mom used to give you wine?" It didn't taste like wine. Nutmeg and cloves?

"Heating destroys the alcohol." Dante drank some more. "She used to make it on cold nights, and let me tell you, in the Alps, there were a lot of cold nights."

"The Alps? Then what are you doing in New York?" She took another drink, looking out at the snow outside Dante's ruined shop.

"This is where my mom used to hunt."

Lady nodded, and rested her hand on Kalina Ann.

5. Selection – D/L (Lady's cutscene abilities, not gameplay)

She was going to die. Lady… Mary, that was what the nutcase had said her name was, was going to die.

Her leg hadn't healed. She wasn't even carrying any blue orbs! One scythe, and she would be down! She was packing major painkillers, clearly, but eventually her only-human endurance was going to give out.

It had given out. She was stopping for a rest.

The demon in him didn't care. She'd take a few with her, and that would be less for him to fight. Demons believed only the strong deserved to survive.

The human in him fought her.

6. Silent Night - D/L – Splendidshadows

"I think we got the last of them." Dante holstered his guns, Ebony and Ivory.

"You look _disappointed._" Lady leaned Kalina Ann against a wall and sat down. She needed a breather.

Dante shrugged, still standing. Still without a drop of sweat. "It's what I live for."

Lady considered. "You know," pant, "That's a really horrible thing to live for." She fanned herself.

Dante shrugged again. "Haven't got much else." How could he say that and still grin?

She was silent.

He was silent.

"Live for me."

"Really?"

"You have to pay me for the bike. And those late charges."

7. Eradicator – just got the Spellcaster's Judgment deck thanks to moonymonster

So many demons, so little time.

It was a rush to kill them. It satisfied his devilish craving for blood and destruction and his human craving for vengeance.

Sure, there was the satisfaction of a job well done, the knowledge that people were alive because of him.

But it was what was dead because of him that was the important thing.

Stamping out the vermin. It was what he lived for.

Until her.

He'd failed everyone he'd tried to protect before her. He'd almost given up on it. Almost given up on himself.

He'd saved her and that saved him.

8. Table

He kicked it, sending it spinning through the air to slam into the almost-dead demon, causing it to explode into sand in a very satisfactory way. He grinned and jumped on the now upside-down table and with a kick sent it gliding across the floor, spinning and shooting and hollering.

"Dante, you almost hit me!" Lady shot in his general direction.

He pouted. "I never miss, Lady! It's your fault for letting that demon get right behind you!" A bullet flew by her head.

She spun around. It was almost twenty feet away. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

9. D/L

He'd brought her Godiva chocolates. The box was held out while he wore a hopeful expression.

"Thanks you." She reached out and took the box. Keep it friendly, Lady. You need him to train you. He clearly still has feelings for you. Don't run like the devil is after you, you need him to train you so you can kill them all. Don't break his heart for the same reason.

She hadn't had good chocolates in… had it been that long? She moaned softly in delight, sinfully dark rich chocolate coating her tongue.

Sweet. So sweet. So sweet of him.

10._ White Candy – prompt from Nemi _

Mint. Used for healing, protection, travel, sex and prosperity. And fresh breath.

He popped back a few of the white mint candies he had found in Ebony and Ivory's stash. He pitied the bacterium that tried to survive in his mouth, but tomato and meat weren't very pleasant scents to humans, although he liked them.

He and Lady had been friends for years now. Friends. Allies. She was just coming over because she needed some spellbooks. No big deal.

So why was he combing his hair, straightening his coat, doing all sorts of crazy normal things? He was over her!

11. Unrequited – prompt from Nemi

Hero worship.

He'd seen it in women's eyes before. After all, he had the body of a god, and he saved a lot of people. Knight in body armor. Even the people who should have known better, who knew what he was sometimes had it. Trish. Lucia, right now.

People were grateful. He saved him and they loved him for it.

All except the one he'd wanted to feel that way. The first women, girl really, he'd gone into battle for.

She'd even given him a favor to carry into battle showing he fought for her. But no champion's kiss.


	3. Professor

_Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry. _

_This is one of those things where I said someone has to write this but thought it shouldn't be me. Well, I need to start editing, but I'm writing this now. _

_AU: According to the manga, Lady saw Dante fight the demonic Alice. What if she had gone to him to be trained? _

_This is manga Lady, not fanon catholicschoolgirl!Lady. Manga Lady hangs out in the wrong part of town and has a friend who gets drunk often enough she's matter-of-fact about it. _

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_Professor_

_-_

The first time they slept together, she wasn't especially surprised.

Years ago, she'd been a good girl, but in high school she'd run with a crowd her mother wouldn't have approved of if she'd known. It was her friend's fault, really, but she'd needed Mary to look after her.

She'd gotten used to finding her a place to sleep off being drunk, she'd lost her virginity because she'd felt like the only one who still had it. She'd been drunk a few times before she'd run in here and Dante had to coax her story out of her, giving her the alcohol she demanded because she needed to be drunk out of her mind just then, she didn't want to contemplate what her father had done sober.

He'd been flippant at first, asked her if she needed to use the bathroom (which, she'd realized, she did, and when she'd seen herself in the mirror she'd splashed water on her face to wash away the tear tracks).

She'd thought at first he wouldn't believe her, but he'd handled that, that thing that had fooled her into thinking it was a girl, so she'd told him, trembling with fear and rage, daring him to call her a liar, and he'd softened just a little and she'd known she wasn't the only one something like this had happened to, old anger in his eyes as well as compassion.

She'd demanded he show her how to fight them, and he'd agreed, she hadn't even had to offer him all the money in her private account (she'd gone to the bank the next day, hoping her father hadn't froze the account: why hadn't he?).

The next day, and the next, she was doing exercises and learning to shoot. He wasn't a very good teacher, actually. It was that which assured her she'd found the right person. It was so _easy_ for him, he made it look so simple, did it so fast, that she had to ask him to slow down while demonstrating, give longer explanations… he was willing to, though there were a few token taunts about her being slow that were so clearly jokes he managed to get her to smile.

He understood vengeance.

She'd given him directions to her father's mansion and he'd gone there to find it deserted. Part of her had hoped he could handle it, the rest of her wanted to kill him _herself._ And he didn't laugh at that ambition, didn't call her a little girl.

He worked her into exhaustion every day for a week, forcing her to go beyond what she thought was possible, and she didn't dream.

Then one day he had a mission, and she'd needed a break, so she'd slept in, and she'd been punished for her lazyness with a dream.

She'd woken up thrashing in his arms, reality merging with the dream so she'd thought her father had caught her, but it was just him, and she'd apologized for hitting, kicking, biting him and he'd shrugged it off like it was nothing.

He'd held her, lying there in the early morning and she'd kissed him.

It was inevitable, really.

He was the only one who understood, he'd helped her so much, he was so beautiful…

And he was so gentle, instead of just trying to get off he'd paid attention to her, never let himself loose. A considerate lover, and just a few years older than her. She wondered how young he had been when he'd started training.

Part of her thought she was being disloyal, falling in love when she should have been utterly dedicated to vengeance, but her mother wouldn't have wanted her life to just end.

She didn't visit her old friends anymore, they seemed so shallow now.

Her first real action was when demons, small dragons with only two legs, burst into the shop, and she avoided getting injured more than once: the blue orbs Dante had given her worked.

It was then she realized just how good Dante was.

So strong, so powerful, and he didn't seem to get tired, even though they just kept coming. She forced herself to go on, glad of her endurance training, and eventually it was over.

He'd laughed and high-fived her at the end, and smiled at her while she was grinning at him like a fool, and then he hugged her and she'd felt like she might be able to do this, might be able to defeat him.

Four more months, Dante's agent Enzo's mob connections unable to track down her father and Dante's brother Vergil. So Vergil was the one he hated. Family.

Another month after that, and she didn't want to leave but they both knew she had to, she had to go and track him down, even though she had no leads. She was killing demons here, but Dante didn't need her.

Even though he wanted her, she wanted him.

They'd kissed each other goodbye, and he'd told her to come back if she ever needed anything, to call him so he could help her out when she found her father, though he knew Arkham was her own to kill. He wanted to help her, he always helped her.

In the lonely nights on the road she missed him, missed how he'd made her practice even when she had the flu, because demons didn't wait for you to be healthy, missed how he'd touched her, missed how he'd guided her hands while she was learning how to aim.

And the journey ended back where she started, tracking her father back to the city, back to the scene of the crime, and she'd visited Dante.

Her father escaped after bringing the demons to attack Dante's shop, but they pursued him to the tower. Son of Sparda?

She'd missed fighting by his side.

And when it was all over, she'd held him while he cried, assured him that she didn't mind he was half-human. She didn't care. Her father had once been a human, and he'd had to be put down like a mad dog.

Dante… was Dante.

And he touched her like he worshipped her.


	4. Headshots

_Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry. _

_These drabbles are part of my Devil May Cry General Series claim at the livejournal group drabbles100. I plan to post the last set on March 9, if anyone else wants to claim it. If you want to get started as a writer, I highly recommend drabbles: they're low-stress and relatively quick. _

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_21. Friends_

She didn't think they had ever been friends. What did you call someone you first shot at, then let be your knight? When they delivered you your vengeance, when you comforted them when they cried? When you'd both lost mothers because of demonic fathers? Too much in common

She'd hovered on the edge the first few days, knowing that even though they said they were friends he was in love with her, telling herself she wasn't in love with him but knowing that if she went, she could break free, but if she stayed it would end up as more.

_22. Enemies_

Their first encounters had been thus: he'd cracked a joke and she'd shot him; he'd tried to save her and she'd shot him; she'd pointed a gun at him and they'd stood back to back; she'd though he'd ended her father's evil life and shot at him; they'd fought, her to kill, him to save her life (and the attempted kiss); and he'd returned from the quest he'd undertaken in her name. Some romantic gesture.

Humans and demons were natural enemies. Demons were evil. Both sides at war within him: she had to trust the human side would always win.

_23. Lovers_

When she'd realized that it was possible their relationship had gone physical she'd researched birth control. She was already on the pill: she'd gone on it at thirteen because she had really, really horrible PMS, but condoms, implant thingies, diaphrams…

Exercising within thirty minutes after sex helped prevent pregnancy… every scientific and home remedy for the condition was made ready.

She didn't tell Dante about the ones he didn't notice and took as reasonable precautions. She didn't want him to know she'd abort rather than carry a demon. He was the exception that proved the rule: Vergil was the rule.

_24. Family_

Their fathers were dead demons, their mothers had died because of them: she lacked an evil twin, but wondered if that girl Alice who had become her father's servant counted as his replacement daughter and in some twisted way her demon-loving sister.

All they had was each other, and she knew for him she was the symbol of all he fought for, of his valiant and loving mother just as she knew that he was all that she fought, the demons that corrupted humanity.

In each other's arms they could rarely forget where, who and what they had arisen from.

_25. Strangers_

_Don't see me, don't see me_, Lady pleaded, hiding in the shower stall from the man who had fought the little girl that had turned out to be a, a _thing_ like out of her father's stories.

She didn't know why she was so terrified, he sounded lighthearted, but that was it: what kind of person didn't react to something like this with horror?

He must be terribly brave: his voice sounded young and she just knew he was handsome.

But the damsel was too distressed to seek out her knight, and knights didn't intrude on ladies in the bath.


End file.
